Moina Fauchier Delavigne explores one of the more interesting convergences of art and the popular imagination -- and business in millennial Egypt Zein, Rakan, Aya and Jalila: two men, two women. Each is in top physical shape, wears tight clothes and fights for the common good. And where do they come from? The Middle East, where they will live, exclusively, for a while yet. These brand new heroes have yet to make it to New York city or Montparnasse, for AK Comics characters are new in the business, having been on sale at such venues as the Diwan bookshop in Zamalek and the AUC Bookstore since February 2004; though they are available in English as well as (standard) Arabic. The look is essential, explains Marwan El- Nashar, AK Comics managing director. "We can't afford to change the rules yet, so we decided to make the characters' costume globally appealing, not too traditional or stereotyped in any way." It would be difficult even for an Egyptian teenager, to relate to a superhero in a galabeya. Yet, founded and created by Aymen Kandeel, also the main shareholder in AK Comics, the project was initially driven by desire to create something different from American comics. An economics professor who has lived in the US, Kandeel had earned two masters and a PhD by the time he created Zein. He has since written the scripts, often in collaboration with others, whether Egyptians or foreigners, though he now prefers to "keep a low profile", he explains, to protect his post as a university professor. Nor has the endeavour gone unnoticed. Farid Tadros, a 27-year-old business analyst and regular reader, is among many who appreciate the initiative. "It was about time," he says. Superman and Batman comics may be better written, he concedes (they have fewer mistakes and stronger plots), but AK Comics are still preferable -- because they are home grown. "The setting is familiar and most characters' names are Arabic," he says, "it's just easier to connect." Zein, the Last Pharaoh, is a philosophy professor; such is his designation in everyday life. In his secret life, however, he will "fight till the end of time" -- a promise he made to his father thousands of years ago. He is so muscular that the Pharaonic beetle print on his tight T-shirt looks ridiculously small in comparison to his overblown sinews. His adventures teem with Ancient Egyptian references; and being of Pharaonic origin, he is the best known among Egyptian readers. This is no doubt aided by the readily recognisable settings in which these adventures take place. The first issue, Heliopolis Ghosts, is set in the Baron Palace, the famously eerie mansion in Masr Al-Gadida, built at the turn of the 20th century and abandoned since. Pharaonic as opposed to religious references, the research of Fadwa Malti Douglas and Allan Douglas has revealed, cement nationalistic feeling that can be shared by all Egyptians. Yet the superheroes at hand are not only Egyptian, they belong to the Middle East as a whole. Kandeel's intentions always were global rather than local, he says, and while political symbols do figure, their representation is meant eschew any kind of bias or even viewpoint. In her first appearance Jalila appears near a structure very like Al-Aqsa Mosque in the City of All Faiths (Jerusalem?), and she fights not only the Zios Army (Zionism?) but the United Liberation Forces as well (Palestinian resistance groups?). El-Nashar prides himself on the fact that, among his American subscribers, there are American Jews (four rabbis included) as well as Arab Americans. "We need to show how we can produce something competent," he says, "and to give an optimistic account of the future of the young in Egypt. This is why three out of four characters live after the War of 55 Years, following a period of uncertainty that looks like today's turmoil." Gender equality is equally paramount. Jalila and Aya are not only sexy, curvaceous women, they are well educated and articulate. A scientist and a law student, they use their impressive physical prowess as well as their intelligence to fight. And readers appreciate such a positive image of women, as strong and responsible as it is sexy. Jalila, in fact, helps out her two younger brothers: one is a drug addict, the other has fallen prey to a terrorist organisation. And there are almost as many female as male readers, who range mainly from seven to 15 years old. One downtown news stand owner notes not only that "it is young people who buy them" but that there are "girls as well as boys among them". He has not read any of them yet, but he is convinced they must be excellent: the 10 copies he receives are very quickly sold out. In theory the AK Comics characters are "Middle Eastern superheroes produced by creative Arab minds"; in practice, several "minds" from Brazil and the US are still involved. Yet Kandeel believes this is irrelevant: "The story concepts, four out of six writers, all editors, more than half the artists, the graphics design department... all reflect Middle Eastern or Arabic- speaking minds." A condition perhaps necessary for the challenge of creating a Middle Eastern atmosphere, for no religious or ethnic references are allowed in AK Comics. "We send the illustrators working abroad pictures of various places here," El-Nashar explains, "the Citadel, the Pyramids, as well as documentation, to give them a feel of the region." Local sensitivities are respected, he says, though it is sometimes difficult to explain to an illustrator working in Brazil that a girl wearing a thong, for example, would never be accepted here as a superhero. Sales have shown remarkable progress: 2,000 copies per issue by the summer of 2004; thus far 1,100 Egyptians have subscribed. Even as the layout changed from issue to issue and spelling mistakes continued to crop up, AK Comics sold 11,000 copies in Egypt in its first 11 months -- a genuine feat. EgyptAir also bought 10,000 issues in August and 8,000 in November. Yet both the Arabic and English editions are still expensive by Egyptian standards (LE4 and LE5, respectively), and at LE2 apiece, Superman and Batman DC Comics, imported from America, had invaded the market by the summer of 2004. A cheaper, black-and- white Arabic edition was launched in August in response. The margin remains small, but for El- Nashar "it is necessary to penetrate the larger market". For the ambitions of AK Comics go beyond Egypt: though it concedes a monthly loss of LE50,000 last year, the company expects to break even by the start of 2006 -- a not unreasonable proposition. In the mean time the comics are being marketed throughout the region -- a project that will preoccupy El-Nashar till the end of 2005; his initial targets, where they should be available beginning this February, are Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. Does he dream of AK Comics characters? "AK Comics is a business, not a fantasy," Kandeel snaps. "In business, you don't dream. You build objectives and targets based on realistic assumptions." Judging by the readers' reactions, one such target should be stronger, more convincing archenemies for Jalila, Zein, Aya and Rakan to fight against.
